Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are semiconductor-based light sources often employed in low-power instrumentation and appliance applications as indicators. LEDs are available in a variety of colors (e.g. red, green, blue) based on the types of materials used in their fabrication. LEDs are becoming increasingly popular in decorative applications such as Christmas tree lights and outdoor decorative lighting. In these applications, LEDs are favored devices due to their ability to emit a wide range of dazzling colors and produce light of high intensity. LED lighting systems are commonly configured to run on AC or DC (battery) power. Due to their high efficiency and low power requirements, LED Christmas lights, for example, are commonly configured to operate utilizing a pair of 1.5 volt batteries as a power supply. When the lights have a flashing capability however, up to 4.5 volts is required to power them. Accordingly, Christmas lights of this type require at least three 1.5 volt batteries to operate.
Housing three batteries requires a larger battery pack which occupies more space than a two-battery assembly thus making the light assembly less compact. It would be advantageous, therefore, to have a decorative LED light system that can provide an operational voltage in excess of 3.0 volts, which requires only a pair of 1.5 volt batteries to operate.